After decades of wrangling with State bureaucrats, Glen Arbor will finally have a four-way stop at Western Avenue & Manitou Boulevard. Better known as M-109 & M-22, the intersection has been the cause of scores of accidents and innumerable near-misses. Persistence by nearby property owners and Township leaders led the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) to evaluate the intersection this past July.
Cindy Hollenbeck surprised herself this past winter when she took a personal day and drove to Lansing to join a demonstration against Michigan Governor Rick Snyder’s Emergency Manager bill — which was signed into law on March 16 and gave the governor the right to dissolve economically troubled schools and public municipalities and appoint his own fiscal managers to run them.
The Leelanau Scenic Heritage Route Committee, Michigan Department of Transportation, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore (National Lakeshore), Traverse Area Recreation and Transportation (TART) Trails, Inc., and Friends of Sleeping Bear Dunes are proud to announce that the Federal Highway Administration has awarded two grants towards construction of 3.7 miles of the Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail (SBHT).
Back in Empire for a recap of another successful mission, Endeavour shuttle pilot Greg Johnson oooed and awed his audience at the township hall on Aug. 19 with new photos and a video from his STS-134 mission in May to the International Space Station (ISS).
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore Superintendent Dusty Shultz has announced the availability of the Port Oneida Historic Landscape Management Plan/Environmental Assessment. The Environmental Assessment (EA) describes and analyzes alternative approaches for addressing historic landscape management activities at the Port Oneida Rural Historic District (Port Oneida).
At the close of its second decade, the Dunegrass Music Festival now has a new home. The popular northern Michigan folk and bluegrass festival is leaving Leelanau County, where it was born to the late Mike Vanderberg in Empire in 1993 and exploded last decade to feature nationally known acts.
Empire boasts a thriving public beach and two unique local festivals — Asparagus Festival in May and Anchor Day (this year on Saturday, July 16). But too often the cozy village fails to sustain crowds, and commerce. Business is booming at the colorful Miser’s Hoard and at hip Sleeping Bear Surf & Kayak, but what should be done about the vacancies at the hardware store, or the old Taghon’s garage and schoolhouse on the corner of M-22 and M-72.
What’s remarkable about the Baremans’ work is that, wherever possible, they’ve used reclaimed and refurbished materials to improve their home, which they call the HalSeaOn House. Mark, who together with his brother owns a commercial construction business called Bareman & Associates, believes he’s saved 75 percent of the cost of buying new materials. Using reclaimed materials has cost him time, but that he writes off as a hobby.
Like many Glen Arborites, Molly Melin is frustrated. Earlier this week her Verizon Wireless cell phone went from full strength to “no service.” She’s been hampered without phone service, data connections, and text messages. Luckily, this Friday will see service restored.
The Las-Vegas Review Journal reports that Eneliko Sean “Liko” Smith — the enigmatic former Samoan boxer who attempted to acquire Sugar Loaf resort last year — was arrested last night in Nevada for driving under the influence. Liko Smith is being held under a no-bail warrant and could face extradition to El Dorado County, Calif., where he reportedly left behind more than $100,000 in unpaid room taxes.